South Korea’s Mirae Asset Securities said it would acquire French bank BNP Paribas’ Indian retail brokerage unit, Sharekhan, in a 487 billion won ($370.11 million) deal.
Mirae Asset, an investment banking and stock brokerage firm, is acquiring a 72.76% stake in Sharekhan for around 288 billion won from BNP Paribas, exchange filings showed.
Separately, it would also be acquiring a 99.9% stake in India’s Human Value Developers for around 199 billion won, according to an exchange filing. Human Value Developers owns a 27.24% stake in Sharekhan.
The deal comes at a time when the Indian stock market is seeing very high retail participation, with equities trading at all-time highs.
BNP Paribas said in a statement it intended to sell its entire stake in Sharekhan Group to Mirae, without giving further details.
The deal “seeks to pursue Indian business growth by acquiring a local brokerage in light of the structural long-term growth potential of the Indian securities industry”, the filings said.
BNP in 2015 agreed to buy Sharekhan for an undisclosed sum.
Source: Reuters.com